Comparison

Solo vs PureOpen

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Solo

This app functions like a personal chat to save thoughts, links, photos, and to-dos. It automatically organizes your saved items into smart categories and allows you to set reminders. Sync your notes across multiple devices for seamless access.

Highlights
  • Personal chat interface for saving notes
  • Automatic categorization of saved items
  • Reminders for important messages
  • Rich link previews
  • Photo and image saving
  • Cross-device synchronization
Features
Read full description

Solo is the simplest way to save anything that comes to mind. Think of it as a chat — but just with yourself. Text a thought. Drop a link. Snap a photo. Solo captures it all in a familiar messaging interface, so saving things feels as natural as sending a text. SMART SORTING, ZERO EFFORT Solo automatically categorizes your messages into smart views: • Bookmark — Links and articles to read later • To-do — Tasks and action items • Idea — Creative sparks and inspiration • Shopping — Things to buy • Money — Expenses and financial notes • Reservation — Bookings and appointments No folders to create. No tags to manage. Just send, and Solo handles the rest. NEVER FORGET Set reminders on any message so the important stuff comes back to you at the right time. EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE • Text notes and quick thoughts • Links with rich previews • Photos and images • Checklists and to-dos PRIVATE & SECURE Your messages are encrypted on-device. Solo is built with privacy at its core — your thoughts stay yours. SYNC ACROSS DEVICES Sign in to sync your messages across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the web. Start a thought on your phone, pick it up on your laptop. SOLO PRO Unlock custom labels, and more ways to organize — your way. Solo is free to use. No account required to get started. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

PureOpen

Features
Read full description

PureOpen is a Markdown editor for Mac and iPhone built for right-to-left writing. Most editors treat RTL as a switch: turn it on and the whole document flips, which breaks the moment you write Hebrew or Arabic with English words in it. PureOpen decides direction per block instead. Every paragraph, heading and list item takes its direction from the first strong character in it — so a mixed document displays correctly with no setting, and with no direction marks written into your file. Files open in tabs, the way a browser opens pages, and your changes are on disk 600ms after you stop typing. RIGHT-TO-LEFT, PER BLOCK • RTL and LTR live side by side in one file. A Hebrew paragraph aligns right, the English paragraph under it aligns left, and each stays that way as you edit. • A Hebrew or Arabic sentence with English terms, code spans and links inside it reads correctly — the block stays RTL and the Latin runs sit where they belong. • A block with no strong character inherits the direction of the block above it, so blank lines and numbers don't break the flow. • Nothing is added to your Markdown to make this work: no RTL marks, no wrapper tags. The file stays portable. OPEN IT FROM THE FILE, NOT FROM THE APP • Right-click a Markdown file in Finder — or long-press it in Files on iPhone and iPad — and PureOpen sits at the top of "Open With". One click and the document is open in a tab in the window you already have. • No launching the app first, no file picker, no importing into a library. Double-click works the same way, and so does dragging a file onto the window. • Registered as the owner and editor of .md, .markdown, .mdown and .mkd. TABS • Every file opens in its own tab. ⌘1–⌘9 jump by position, Ctrl+Tab cycles, middle-click closes, and ⌘W closes the tab rather than the window. • The tabs you had open come back the next time you launch. SAVING • Autosave writes 600ms after you stop typing, and again on tab switch, tab close and window blur. A grey dot marks a tab with unsaved content. • If the file changes on disk — another editor, a sync client — it is reloaded quietly and your scroll position is kept. If it is deleted, editing locks so stale content is not written back over it. • Opening a file doesn't reformat it: an edit that didn't actually change the content doesn't trigger a write. EDITING • 17 formatting buttons: headings 1–4, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, bullet, numbered and task lists, subscript, superscript, quote, inline code, code block and horizontal rule. • Each button reflects the block and the marks under the cursor, and updates as the cursor moves. • Underline, subscript and superscript are kept as HTML rather than dropped when the file is saved. PRINTING AND PDF • Print what you see. The page is the document as the editor renders it — headings, tables, task lists, code blocks, Hebrew and English side by side — without the tabs and the toolbar around them. • Export the same page straight to a PDF file, without going through the print dialog to find "Save as PDF". • Nothing is rendered a second time for paper, so what prints is what you were looking at. Pages break between lines, and the page is always light even when the app is in dark mode. ALSO • On iPhone and iPad, files opened from Files are edited in place — not copied into the app. • Dark mode follows the system setting. • Files past roughly 4 million characters open read-only as raw text, so the interface doesn't stall. • No network, no account, no telemetry. Your files stay on your device. PureOpen is free, with no in-app purchases.

Screenshots

Solo4 screens
PureOpen4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PureOpen at none against Solo's 2. PureOpen also leads on device support (4 vs 2). Solo's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 9 days) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Solo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. PureOpen asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Solo ships an update every 3 days, PureOpen every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Solo versus PureOpen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSoloPureOpen
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size49 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOOTHYechiel Ben David

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Solo

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly14 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly14 Days trial$19.991 Year
None

PureOpen

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Solo free?
Solo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PureOpen free?
PureOpen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Solo or PureOpen have ads?
Neither Solo nor PureOpen shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Solo or PureOpen?
Solo ships an update every 3 days, and PureOpen every 9 days. Most recently, Solo was updated on September 23, 2026 and PureOpen on October 10, 2026.

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